Eye-stay assembly fob fabric



April l5, 1952 L. MARKIN EYE STAY ASSEMBLY FOR FABRIC FASTENING FiledAug. 24, 1949 l IN [0a/z5 Maf fz BY Patented pr. 15, 1952 UNITED fSTATES YPATENT OFFICE EYE-STAY ASSEMBLY Foa FABRIC A FASTEN'ING g Louis`Markin, Chicago, Ill., fassignor, hy lrnesne' A assignments, toHook-l5`lex Company, Chicago,

Ill., `a copartnership Application August 24, 1949, SerialNo. 112,120

. 1 This invention relates to an eye-stay assembly fforming part Q f afastening device of the type 'which Ais commonly used on 'mens clothing.

It has vbeen the practice with the higher-priced mens clothing tousewith the trousers a hook .and eye at `the y to secure the two partsthereof at the top. With tailored suits vit has been customary touse aspecial type .of hook and eye, both .sewed tothe .trousers adjacent thewaist band.

`With increasing labork costs .this is now proving to be ,an `expensiveexpedient. Nevertheless this Y.type v'of lfastening isgreatly preferredto buttons,

particularly 'for the higher-priced mens clothing. One shortcoming ofthe hook and eye .type .of

`fastening is that each of these parts is commonly f-anchored inposition 'by threads which are sewn :through the fabric. With continueduse or eX- treme strain the threads will break, .thereby-permitting thefastening to become loose. This is a :shortcoming Vwhich is alsoobviated by the present construction.

Primarily my 'invention here is concerned with the eye-stay assembly.'It is complementary to .aihook which, as shown, :includes a tongue conf-:nected Ythrough a reversebend with a base that is secured to the`fabric by any approved means.

In the present eye-.stay assembly the eye component embodies Vstopshoulders beyond which are prongs for penetrating the fabric and which-lie atwise' thereon when turned and clinched; :the stay componentcooperates with such an eye :by affording v,a `base in opposition to thestop shoulders, and so placed that the .fabric is dis- ;posed vbetweenthe eye and stay, the prongs of the'eye when clinched, serving to securethe stay Xedly in place and to be protected thereby. A suggestiveembodiment of my invention is yillustrated in the accompanying drawing,wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a typical Fig. -6 is a view insection, taken 4on line vl--S` of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 7 which is a view similar to Fig. 3 shows anveye and stay platelofsomewhat diferent form. 1'

8Claims. (Cl. Zei- 227) A typical installation of the presentV fasteningis in connection with a pair of trousers the upper portion of which isillustrated in Fig. 1. -The front fly` consists of two aps a and b tothe latter of which is affixed a hookrcomponent H at or near thewaistband. The complementary component which is carried by the ny nap aincludes an eye E assembled with a stay S .both embodying certainfeatures whichare special to this invention. In a fastening of thisgeneral character the hook Vis adapted to engageor disengage the eye`whereby to secure the y in closed condition .or release it foropeningmovement.

The hook 'here shown is desirably produced from sheet metal which isstamped and bent to provide an arcuate tongue `lill that is reversely'bent to connect witha base plate l2 wherein may fbe formed Acertainslotsto define bars i3 adjacent thereto. In usual practice, the hookwill be carried upon the inner face .of the flap b, whereit is xedlysecured in place as by stitching lli which connects the bars I3 to thefabric. A suitable facing I5 may be aixed to the waistband, as shown.

In the present fastener the eye Ei may also be produced from sheet metalwhich is stamped and `bent to provide a relatively at bar I6 havingopposite parallel endl portions with inset stop shoulders l1 beyondwhich is formed a pair of prongs I8 which initially are arranged inparallelism. These prongs are adapted to penetrate the fabric in the flyflap a, passing inwardly therethrough from the outer face thereof. Theseprongs are adapted also to pass between or through .guides I9 near theends of `an elongated plate constituting the stay S which lies upon theinner face ofthe flap a. 'These guides in the form shown take the form`of slots closed on all four sides, as indicated clearly'in Fig. 2. Whenthe `prongs have been inserted through theguide slots of the stay, theprojecte ing end portions of the prongs may then be bent linwardlytoward each other and into the space provided byY a pair of medial slots2| which are properly located for this purpose between the two Aendguides I9 of the stay S. Between each guide I9 and the proximate slot 2|the plate body is inset at c toward the eye for a slight distance,vperhaps half the thickness of the fabric ply which they penetrate (seeFig. 5), whereby to accommodate, in lpart at least, the prongs -IB atthe point where they are extended thereacross along the inner face `ofthe fly ap c. The protrusion of the prongs at `these two points ismaterially reduced A'in consequence.

i The two prongs when so disposed within the medial slots are oisetrelative to each other so as to be accommodated within the confines ofthe relatively narrow stay plate S. This may be accomplished readily byforming on one prong an elongated bevel :1: which faces a correspondingelongated bevel 'y formed on the other prong, as best shown in Fig. 3,or by elongately tapering the prongs along opposite edges (see Fig. '7)for reception in a single elongated medial slot 22. This disposition ofthe two prongs completely eliminates protrusion of their sharp ends byproviding therefor a confining housing into which they are bent (seeFig. 5). The tapered medial slots 2| conform to the configuration of theprongs I8 and each is defined by a transverse wall, a longitudinal walland an inclined wall connecting the longitudinal walls, and the inclinedwalls of the slots I8 are arranged in parallelism, as clearlyillustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings. This provides for maximumlength of the prongs and maximum strength of the stay between thetapered slots 2| which accommodate the tapered prongs I8. Positioningholes 23 are shown near opposite ends of the stay plate to facilitateits placement in the correct location when the assembly operation isperformed by a machine.

When the eye E! and stay S are assembled, the fabric flap a will befirmly clamped therebetween. This makes for a very strong fasteningwhich will not become loose or tear the fabric under conditions ofstrain. It is important that the exposed bar I6 of the eye remain spacedfrom the outer face of the ap a distance sufficient to permit the tonguel0 of the hook H to enter therebetween. This spacing is assured by thestop shoulders Il at opposite ends of the eye bar which engage with thefabric.

The eye-stay assembly of my invention is desirably made of metallic flatstock. This has certain advantages. An enhanced strength may be obtainedfor the eye without increasing the distance of its protrusion from theface of the fabric to which it is secured. Furthermore it is reinforcedso as to resist bending when subjected to strain tending to pull the eyeto one side. Under such conditions the eye connection with the staywhich is fixed will involve a motion on the part of the staycorresponding with that which is executed by the eye, and this addsappreciably to the resistance. While the fabric may bend to some extent,the broad base of the stay tends to oppose any undue bending movement onthe part of the fabric, thus stabilizing the entire eye-stay assemblyand enhancing its strength to withstand the various conditionsencountered in service.

I claim:

l. For fastening a fabric ny to one flap of which is aiixed a hook, aneye-stay assembly carried by the other fly flap, the eye being elongatedwith parallel prongs extending transversely from its opposite ends andstop shoulders at the juncture of the prongs with the eye, the prongsbeing adapted for insertion through the flap fabric to the extentpermitted by engagement of the shoulders with one side thereof at whichpoint the major length of the prongs is disposed to the opposite side ofthe fabric, and the eye between the two sets of stop shoulders beingextended to lie spaced from the fabric a distance suiiicient toaccommodate the coacting hook on the fly flap first named, and a baseplate opposite the eye disposed on the fabric side reached by the prongsconsisting of an elongated stay formed medially with a slot andtherebeyond, near each end, with means to guide one prong in itsextension from one face of the stay to the opposite face thereof, thetwo prongs being bendable inwardly toward each other to lieflatwisevin'a single plane -within the confines of the slot medially of the stay.

2. An eye-stay assembly according to claim 1 in which the slot iselongated lengthwise of the stay, and in which the length and width ofthe prongs is such that, when bent inwardly toward each other, each willlap the other while disposed within the confines of the elongated slotof the stay.

3. An eye-stay assembly according to claim 1 in which the slot iselongated lengthwise of the stay, and in which the length and width ofthe prongs is such that, when bent inwardly toward each other to liewithin the confines of the elongated slot of the stay, each will lap theother while occupying more than half the width of the slot at one endthereof and less than one-half the width thereof toward the opposite endwhere lapping occurs.

4. For fastening a fabric fly to one flap of which is aixed a hook, aneye-stay assembly carried by the other fly flap, the eye being elongatedwith parallel prongs extending transversely from its opposite ends andstop shoulders at the juncture of the prongs with the eye, the prongsbeing adapted for insertion through the iiap fabric to the extentpermitted by engagement of the shoulders with one side thereof at whichpoint the major length of the prongs is disposed to the opposite side ofthe fabric, and the eye between the two sets of stop shoulders beingextended to lie spaced from the fabric a distance sufficient toaccommodate for the full length of the space between the fabric and theeye the coacting hook on the fly flap first named, and a base plateopposite the eye disposed on the fabric side reached by the prongsconsisting of an elongated stay formed with a slot near each end throughwhich a prong may be passed to guide each prong in its extension fromone face of the stay to the opposite face thereof and intermedially ofsuch guiding means with a pair of medial slots, one toward each guidingmeans and each positioned to receive one prong when bent inwardlylongitudinally of the stay toward the other whereby the two prongs maylie flatwise in a single plane each within the connes of its associatedslot, said stay being inset at points between the guide slots and themedial slots whereby the stay forms a housing to reduce obtrusion of theprongs.

5. For fastening a fabric fly to one ap of which is aiixed a hook, aneye-stay assembly carried by the other ily flap, the eye being elongatedwith parallel prongs extending transversely from its opposite ends, theprongs being adapted for insertion through the ap fabric to the extentthat the major length of the prongs is disposed to the opposite side ofthe fabric; and the eye between the two prongs being extended to liespaced from the fabric a distance suflicient to accommodate the coastinghook on the fly flap rst named, and a base plate opposite the eyedisposed on the fabric side reached by the prongs consisting of anelongated stay formed medially with a slot and therebeyond, near eachend, with means to guide one prong in its extension from one face of thestay to the opposite face thereof, the two prongs being bendableinwardly toward each other to lie flatwise in a single plane within theconfines of the slot medially of the stay.

6. For fastening a fabric y to one flap of which is aflixed a hook, aneye-stay assembly carried by the other fly flap, the eye being elongatedwith parallel prongs extending transversely from its opposite ends andstop shoulders at the juncture of the prongs with the eye, the prongsbeing adapted for insertion through the flap fabric to the extentpermitted by engagement of the shoulders with one side thereof at whichpoint the major length of the prongs is disposed to the opposite side ofthe fabric, and the eye `between the two sets of stop shoulders beingextended to lie spaced from the fabric a distance sufficient toaccommodate for the full length of the space between the fabric and theeye the ooacting hook on the fly flap first named, and a base plateopposite the eye disposed on the fabric side reached by the prongsconsisting of an elongated stay formed with a slot near each end throughwhich a prong may be passed to guide each prong in its extension fromone face of the stay to the opposite face thereof and intermedially ofsuch guiding means with a pair of medial slots, one toward each guidingmeans and each positioned to receive one prong when bent inwardlylongitudinally of the stay toward the other medial slot whereby the twoprongs may lie atwise in a single plane each within the confines of itsassociated slot, the plate, body between each guide slot and theproximate medial slot being inset toward the eye to accommodate, in partat least, the prongs extending thereacross whereby to house and toreduce the distance of their protrusion from the adjacent face of thebase plate.

7. For fastening a fabric fly to one flap oi" which is ailixed a hook,an eye-stay assembly carried by the other fly flap, the eye beingelongated with parallel tapered prongs extending ,transversely from itsopposite ends and stop shoulders at the juncture of the prongs with theeye, the

` prongs being adapted for insertion through the plate opposite the eyedisposed on the fabric side Y. reached by the prongs consisting of anelongated each prong in its extension from one face of the stay to theopposite face thereof and intermedially of such guiding slots with apair of tapered medial slots adjacent the guiding slots positioned toreceive the said prongs whenbent inwardly longitudinally of the staytoward the distant end of the stay whereby the said prongs may lieflatwise in a single plane each within the confines of its associatedmedial slot, said tapered medial slots conforming to the configurationof the tapered prongs and the stay being inset between the guide slotsand the medial slots to accommodate, in partat least, the prongsextending across the inset portions to house the prongs and reduce thedistance of their protrusion from the adjacent face of the base place.

8. For fastening a fabric fly to one ap of which is afxed a hook, an eyestay assembly carried by the other fly flap, the eye being elongatedwith parallel prongs extending transversely from its opposite ends, andstop shoulders at the juncture of the prongs with the eye, the prongsbeing adapted for insertion through the flap fabric to the extentpermitted by engagement of the shoulders with one side thereof at whichpoint the maior length` of the prongs is disposed to the opposits: sideof the fabric, and the eye between the two sets of stop shoulders beingextended to lie spaced .from the fabric a distance sufficient toaccommodate, for the full length of the space between the eye and thefabric, the ooacting hook on the fly ap nrst named, and a base plateopposite the eye disposed on the fabric side reached by the prongs,consisting of a stay formed near each end with a slot through which oneprong may be passed to guide each prong in its extension from one faceof the stay to the opposite face thereof and adjacent thereto to opposethe stop shoulders with an increased resistance, the prongs, `whenclinched against the stay, extending longitudinally thereof and the stayforming a housing for the prongs to reduce obtrusion of the prongs.

LOUIS MARKIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 546,213 Zaretsky Sept. 10, 1895833,533 Longenecker Oct. 16, 1906 1,436,277 Manning et al Nov. 2l, 19221,496,706 Friedman et al. June 3 1924

